Historical Fiction

<p style=”text-align: left;”>I think it’s horrible that schools do not teach about the Armenian genocide the same way they teach about the Holocaust… yes, the twist at the end with Karine still alive was heartbreaking … how could Elizabeth live the rest of her life not letting Armen know? I couldn’t do it … it would eat away at me.</p>

I grew up in the next town to Watertown, Massachusetts and was very familiar with the Armenian genocide, as well as having many Armenian friends who had family involved.  I agree, we should be more aware of the event.

Poor Karine.  After going through so much and then seeing Elizabeth and Armen.

Oh please don’t slam me, but I really didn’t care for this book, and it probably should have come with a trigger warning.

It’s not that I haven’t read books about difficult subjects, war or genocide, (and as I said in an earlier comment, I am aware of the Armenian genocide) but I thought the book was too graphic, especially in the first half of the book.  The beheading scene gave me nightmares.  I didn’t even care much about the characters until the second half of the book.

But I do have some questions about the backstories:

1.  Why was it titled The Sandcastle Girls?  Yes there were mentions of building sandcastles in the book, but I didn’t see the connections to the story.
2. What was the importance of the lamb chop for breakfast every morning for the grandfather (Armen) when they came to the United States?    Why did they dress the brother up in a costume and the girl had go-go boots?  Why did the aunt belly dance to entertain the group and never do it again?  I thought some of the back stories were disconnected.

While I was aware of the Armenian genocide, I thought it all took place in areas around Armenia and Greece. This opened my eyes to the Syrian connection.